History Courses/Mythology Study GuideCourse
- AuthorSasha Blakeley
Sasha Blakeley has a Bachelor's in English Literature from McGill University and a TEFL certification. She has been teaching English in Canada and Taiwan for seven years.
View bio - InstructorChristopher Muscato
Chris has a master's degree in history and teaches at the University of Northern Colorado.
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Learn the story of Odin in Norse mythology and learn about Odin's eye. Find out how Odin lost his eye. Discover Thor's hammer and the character Fenrir.Updated: 11/21/2023
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Odin only have one eye?
Odin only has one eye because he plucked his other eye out in exchange for divine wisdom. By taking out his eye, he was able to drink from a well that let him understand everything.
Who has Odin's eye?
Odin's eye is located in the god Mímir's well. Mímir is the wisest of the gods and the keeper of the well of knowledge. He resides near the well at the roots of Yggdrasill, the world tree.
Who can lift Thor's hammer Norse mythology?
While contemporary comic books have popularized the idea that only Thor can lift his hammer, there is little evidence for this idea in Norse mythology. Few other figures in mythology ever hold Thor's hammer, but this does not seem to be because of any inherent difficulty in lifting it.
What color eyes does Odin have?
Different myths give different answers to this question. Some say that his eyes were blue as the sky, others brown, and others again say that his eyes changed color for a variety of reasons.
Which eye is missing from Odin?
It is not clear which eye Odin is missing; there is no consensus in the myths. Artists depict Odin differently in different contexts.
What is Thor's magic hammer called?
Thor's hammer is called Mjöllnir, sometimes spelled Mjölnir. It is likely that the name shares its etymological root with words for lightning.
Table of Contents
- The Story of Odin
- Thor's Hammer in Norse Mythology
- Odin vs Fenrir
- Lesson Summary
Odin is a major figure in Norse mythology. He was generally considered the leader of the gods and he features in many different myths. The most famous story of Odin describes how he lost one of his eyes in order to gain divine wisdom. He was often called the All-Father because of his wisdom and power. Like many gods, Odin lived in the realm of Asgard. He had two sons called Balder and Thor, both of whom are powerful gods in their own right, as well as several other children. He was often accompanied by two ravens called Hugin and Munin that would report the news of the world to him. He was also usually depicted wearing a golden ring called Draupnir. Like many gods, Odin had a variety of powers, including shape-shifting and the art of prophecy.
What does ''Odin'' mean from an etymological standpoint? Odin is an anglicization of the old Norse Óðinn, meaning ''rage'' or ''frenzied one.'' The name ''Odin'' is also the etymological root of ''Wednesday,'' which was originally ''Woden's Day'' or ''Odin's Day.'' In addition to the name ''Odin,'' this god was known by as many as one hundred and seventy other names that emphasize his various characteristics in myth.
Odin's One Eye
Odin was a famously one-eyed Norse god, but why does Odin have one eye? The story of Odin's eye is one of the most famous tales about him. According to myth, Odin was a powerful god but he wanted to learn all there was to know. He wanted to have access to all of the knowledge that was usually hidden from him. To gain this wisdom, Odin went to Mímir, the wisest of the gods, who lived by a well at the base of Yggdrasill, the world tree upon which all of the realms of Norse mythology rested. Mímir told Odin that he could drink from the waters of the well and gain divine wisdom, but only if he made a sacrifice. So how did Odin lose his eye? He plucked it out himself and offered it to Mímir as payment for his newfound wisdom.
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In some myths, Odin's one eye remains in Mímir's well. But which eye is Odin missing? There is no consensus in the myths, and artistic depictions of Odin are not universal in their depiction of him. It is possible that Odin is more commonly depicted without his right eye than his left, but nobody can say for certain.
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Thor, one of Odin's sons, is an important figure in Norse mythology; he is the god of thunder. He is strongly associated with a hammer called Mjöllnir, which was the source of his power. In Norse mythology, Thor's hammer would return to him like a boomerang if he threw it. Just as Thor was the god of thunder, his hammer represented lightning. The hammer was more than just a weapon: it was also an important symbol used in a variety of ceremonies in Norse culture. Thor's hammer could be a tool for destruction or a blessing, since both of those tasks were about protecting the order of the world from chaos.
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Thor originally got his hammer after Loki, a trickster god, made a bet with some dwarves. He bet them that they could not produce three fantastic creations in three days. Despite Loki's efforts to thwart them, they succeeded in making Mjöllnir and several other pieces. Loki gifted the hammer to Thor to apologize for some earlier mischief.
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Another important story about Odin is the story of his battle against Fenrir. Fenrir was a giant wolf in Norse mythology who was one of the enemies of Odin and the other gods. Because Fenrir was so powerful, the gods asked the dwarves to make unbreakable chains with which to bind him. Fenrir was thought to be an agent of chaos, meaning that his goals were antithetical to those of the gods and of people. Although the chains binding Fenrir were powerful, it was thought that he would escape during the Ragnarök, the Norse version of doomsday or the apocalypse. During that battle, it was said that Fenrir would devour the sun and that he would also fight against Odin. In the Odin vs Fenrir fight, Fenrir would swallow Odin, killing him. Vidar, one of Odin's sons, would then avenge his father's death by killing Fenrir.
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The concept of Ragnarök in Norse mythology is a particularly fascinating one. It was thought that Ragnarök was both a future event and a past one, as the Norse view of history was a cyclical one. Everything that had happened in Norse mythology would happen again, so Fenrir had already swallowed Odin and would swallow him again at the next doomsday. Ultimately, even unbreakable chains are insufficient to hold Fenrir back because eventually chaos will always win. The efforts of gods and men mitigate chaos, but they cannot completely eliminate it.
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Odin was an important god in Norse mythology. He was missing an eye because he sacrificed it in order to gain divine wisdom from the god Mímir. One of Odin's sons, Thor, was the god of thunder. He had a hammer called Mjöllnir which represented lightning. The hammer was often used as a destructive weapon, but it could also be a blessing. This dichotomy existed because, according to Norse mythology, both uses of the hammer served to reduce chaos in the world.
Another major Norse myth is the story of Ragnarök, or doomsday. In this story, a giant wolf called Fenrir is bound with unbreakable chains to prevent him from destroying the world. During Ragnarök, Fenrir escapes, because even unbreakable chains cannot hold back chaos forever. Fenrir swallows Odin and then Odin's son Vidar kills him to avenge his father.
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Video Transcript
Norse Mythology
Often when you meet someone, certain traits will jump out that sort of define that person. It may be bright red hair, a sense of humor, or maybe an eye patch or a magical hammer. You know, things like that. Well, mythological systems are like that, too. The characters have stories or traits that define them and their place within that culture's cosmology. This is certainly true of Norse mythology, the spiritual beliefs of the pre-Christian Scandinavian people. Let's take a look at a few of the myths that define the Norse mythology and how we remember it.
Odin's Eye
In Norse mythology, there are many gods and goddesses. The supreme deity, however, is Odin, sometimes known by the extremely cool title of Allfather. His defining trait? He's only got one eye. He's not a Cyclops. One of his eyes was gouged out and is often covered by an eye patch. Odin is an extraordinarily complex figure. He represents both war and poetry. He's a leader and a hermit and he intervenes in the world of men as both a trickster and protector.
Most myths surrounding Odin have to do with the acquisition of wisdom, including the story of how he lost his eye. According to mythology, Odin ventured to the mystical Well of Urd at the base of the world-tree that holds the cosmos together. The well was guarded by Mimir, a shadowy being who becomes all knowing by drinking the magical waters. Odin asked for a drink and Mimir replied that Odin must sacrifice an eye for a drink. Odin gouged out his own eye, dropped it into the well, and was allowed to drink from the waters of cosmic knowledge.
So what does this myth mean? Well, the eye is a common metaphor for perception and worldly understanding. Odin sacrificed an eye, but gained a more sacred, divine level of wisdom in return. This happens multiple times in Norse mythology, as Odin sacrifices his physical body to gain a cosmic understanding of reality. So the depictions of a one-eyed Odin represent the sacrifice of the earthly in exchange for the divine.
Thor's Hammer
One of Odin's children and one of the most popular figures in Norse mythology, both in ancient times and today, is Thor, the god of storms. Thor was a righteous warrior and unyielding defender of both the realms of humans and gods, and he fought with a magical hammer named Mjöllnir. According to the Norse people, when you heard the crash of thunder, it was the sound of Mjöllnir crashing down upon the giants that Thor battled. Interestingly, the hammer, which was made by the dwarves, represented more than just destruction. The Norse people invoked Thor's hammer to consecrate and bless marriages, births, and likely funerals. Why? Well, Thor was also something of a fertility deity, believed to protect crops and the fertility of the land, and his hammer was an extension of this. However, to the Norse, the dual functions of Mjöllnir weren't opposites. In Norse mythology, the forces of order and chaos are constantly at war. Asgard, home of the gods, was the land of order, so Thor was literally the defender of order. When something was blessed with Thor's hammer, it was incorporated within the realms of order and protected against chaos.
Fenrir's Story
It's not surprising that the culture that spawned the Vikings was often at war. Norse gods battled giants, or beings who represented chaos. One of the most powerful of the giants was Fenrir, who took the form of a vicious wolf. According to mythology, Fenrir was the son of Loki the trickster and giantess Angrbooa. The gods of Asgard decided to raise Fenrir because they knew he could become powerful, but as Fenrir rapidly grew the gods became worried and decided to chain him up. They tried twice, and each time Fenrir broke free.
Cunningly, the gods convinced Fenrir that this was just a game to test his strength, and they went to the dwarves to commission the strongest chain in the cosmos, one which could never break but which looked light and soft. Fenrir was suspicious of the new chain, and when the gods challenged him to continue the game and break it, he demanded that one of them put their hand in his mouth as a sign of good faith. Only Tyr was brave enough. The gods bound Fenrir, who realized he had been tricked and bit off Tyr's hand. There's definitely a clear message there about the price of harnessing chaos!
However, the story's not over. Norse mythology is cyclical, which means it repeats and repeats, and at the end of each cycle there is a massive battle between gods and giants called Ragnarok in which everything is destroyed and then recreated. At Ragnarok, Fenrir breaks free and consumes most of the cosmos, even killing Odin before being killed by Odin's sons. And that's Norse mythology. Chaos always breaks loose, and sacrifices are always needed to restore order once again.
Lesson Summary
In Norse mythology, the cosmological beliefs of the pre-Christian Scandinavian people, certain myths define the major characters. Odin, leader of the gods, is defined by only having one eye after sacrificing the other eye to gain cosmic wisdom, which was his constant goal throughout mythology. His son, Thor, was defined by a magical hammer named Mjöllnir. Thor and his hammer are embodiments of order in the battle against chaos and were used to destroy his enemies as well as bless marriages and births. Opposite the gods were the giants, the embodiment of chaos. One of the greatest of these was Fenrir, a giant wolf. Fenrir was chained by the gods to stop chaos from consuming the world, but at the price of the god Tyr's hand. Fenrir breaks free at the final cosmos-ending battle Ragnarok, where chaos and order destroy the universe and it's born again.
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